The Truth About Energybending
by dickard23
Summary: Zuko has sentenced Azula to lose her bending, but Aang isn't sure if he should carry out the punishment. Roku is a spirit guide for his great granddaughter. Same universe as the Namesake trilogy. Takes place after Namesake 2.


It's going to be okay," Roku promised Azula.

"How can you say that? Who am I without my bending?"

"You are the smart, determined courageous girl you've always been. Your flame never defined you. Your talents came from your passion and as long as you can find something to drive you, then you will always be amazing."

Azula wasn't sure what would drive her. She lived in a cell. She was about to lose the one thing Zuko didn't take from her during the war. What would she do from prison? She may as well be dead.

The guards came for her. To make matters even worse, her shame would be publicly celebrated. People came from around the world to see Azula lose her bending.

"I guess it's time," Azula said as the guards escorted her.

* * *

><p>Aang felt like he was going to be sick. The more he read about energybending the more confused he got. There were these passages like "your will must overcome your opponents," and "if you energybend with impure motives, you can lose your own bending or even your own sanity."<p>

How does he know when his motives are pure? Saving the world was a pretty pure motive, but the war is over. Is there any justification for taking someone's bending at this point. Azula hadn't tried to escape. She wasn't a security risk as far as he knew.

Aang had been confused about whether or not Azula deserved to lose her bending, but now he's confused about whether or not he has the right to take anyone's bending again.

Making matters worse, this was all going to be in public. What if he choked or something went wrong in front of everyone? This was not only nerve wracking, but it was also dangerous. He had no one to ask for help. He didn't get a chance to find the lion turtle again and everyone else had too much bias to really hear what he was saying.

He had even avoided his room, so he wouldn't have to hear Katara go on about this anymore. She was excited like they were going to see a play. Aang just wanted to puke.

Toph showed up at the last minute. She was blind, so she didn't really care if she could see anything. She was just curious. Everyone had been running his or her mouth about the whole situation.

"Where's Twinkle Toes?" she asked Katara.

"Um, he's been spending a lot of time in the library, for some reason."

"He can read?" she teased. She went to the library; well once the guards showed her the way, stupid wooden floors.

"Is Aang here?" she asked the librarian.

"He was, but he went out on the pavilion. He looked anxious."

"Um thanks."

She hopped outside and could feel his heart beat through the stone floor. It was irregular. "What's wrong TT?"

"I can't..." He just stammered a bunch of times.

"Calm down. You sound like you're going to pass out."

"I just might."

She got him to sit. "Actually, lie down so you don't hit your bald head."

He lied on the stone. Even in October, it was really warm here.

"So what's wrong with you and start from the beginning?"

"Okay. Zuko ordered Azula to lose her bending. Most people seem to approve, but there are a few objections. One is Ty Lee, which isn't a surprise. Another is the Head Sage, which was more of a surprise to me. He said that she was a good girl who was made to be cruel by her father, and he thought she could change if she got adequate help. June came and she also asked me to spare Azula's …"

"Why would June care?"

"Oh, she was in love with Lu Ten, and apparently Lu Ten and Azula were really close before he died. She thought he would have wanted her to say something since he can't. She has a son with him, who she hid from Ozai during the war. Azula helped her hide, so she's trying to help her now."

Gramps is a grandpa, weird!

"So you're confused about whether or not you're doing the right thing?"

"Yes, and there's more. I've been researching energybending and if you do it with impure motives or too weak of a will, you can suffer severe consequences."

"Like what?"

"Like losing your bending or your sanity or …"

"Well that's bad enough. If you're unsure, just don't do it."

"But the world is counting on me."

"No, the world was counting on you to save it and you did. They have no right to demand that you issue any punishment, much less one you find unjust. They can't ask you to risk your mind or your ability to be the avatar because they have bloodlust. It's not worth it, no matter how many people want some payback."

"You think I should just back out."

"I don't see what else you can do. If you're ready to pass out over the matter, then I think that's enough of an indicator of your motives and of your will at this point. Maybe, you'll change your mind later, but today sounds like a no go."

"Zuko's going to be mad."

"Sparky Boom Boom's always mad. He'll get over it. You're the Avatar. You help people but on your terms. They don't own you. You have to take ownership and responsibility for your own powers."

"You're right, sifu!"

"Of course I'm right Twinkle Toes!"

"So what do I do instead? She's already on her way here."

"Maybe you can find a way to help her."

Aang went back into the library. Maybe there was something here. Now that he was calmer, it was easier to focus.

* * *

><p>An hour later, the arena was packed. Everyone wanted a seat for this. Zuko was in the royal box with Iroh. June declined to sit with them. She didn't want her son to see this, so she stayed with him inside.<p>

"Why are all these people here?"

"In the Fire Nation, they do public punishments to shame the offender."

"Why aren't we out there?"

"Because I don't think punishment should be entertainment."

"Who's being punished?"

"Your cousin."

"What are they going to do to him?"

"They're going to take her bending away, like they did her father."

Lu Ten didn't ask any more questions. He just sat with his mother.

Ty Lee was crying. Suki felt bad that she felt bad, but Azula was a monster. What else could they do?

The guards brought her out. She was wearing her prison uniform and didn't try to fight it.

The Head Sage had to read out the charges. He gave Azula an apologetic look.

"The Fire Nation has sentenced Former Crown Princess Azula to lose her bending for war crimes, having provided material support to her father, former Fire Lord Ozai's conquest to take over the world. Now, the Avatar will take her bending, forever."

Aang came out. He let go of everything and went into the Avatar State. Like Ozai, he put one hand on her head, and the other on her chest, but he did not take her bending. He instead, explored her chi, looking for wounds in her soul and started to heal them. The most recent wound was when her father had abandoned her.

As he went deeper and deeper, he found bigger wounds that had a spiritual scar tissue over them. Somehow, he made a wrong turn, and ended up inside of her memories.

95AG

"Will you tell me about how you conquered Makapu Village?" Azula asked her grandfather.

"Of course," he said. She sat on his lap, and he began to recount the tale. "We already had Yu Dao. My father took it before the war started, but after the war began, we faced opposition on both sides of the colony. The Earth Kingdom tried to starve us out of resources, attacking our ships as they tried to get into Yu Dao.

It wasn't long before we realized, we'd have to take Makapu Village to keep Yu Dao. With both territories, it would be much harder for the Earth Kingdom to effectively blockade us.

To distract them, I sent some ships to go east, through the channel towards Serpant's Pass. They thought we were going to invade Ba Sing Se, and while their troops went east to follow our ships, I led the charge into Makapu Village.

The men who had stayed behind put up a fight. What they didn't have in weapons or military training, they made up for with determination and brutality, but our firebending was too superior. We took over the village and controlled the territory from the ocean to Yu Dao.

I was only 18 at the time. I became Fire Lord two years later, and people respected me because they knew I fought along with my people. I didn't just dictate from above."

Azula was about to ask him a question when Ursa came with Azulon's tea.

He had offered his granddaughter some, but she declined.

They fell asleep in the chair, but when Azula woke up, Azulon was dead. She screamed and rang the bell, like her pleas could bring him back, but he was gone. When she saw his lips were blue, she knew what that meant, poison.

Ursa had killed her grandfather, and she had been right there the whole time.

Present

Aang saw Azula's memory from the first person perspective; he felt like he was Azula and felt her grief, her anger and her fear all at once. Unaware that energybending could have such an effect on him, he became overwhelmed and jumped back from her. His nose started bleeding as he hit the ground.

Azula felt different, but more complete. She didn't feel cold or broken like she had expected. Did something go wrong?

Katara shrieked before she turned to Azula. Then, all she saw was red. She charged at the former princess, grabbing her near her neck.

"What did you do to him?"

"Nothing. I don't know what he did."

"TELL ME!" Katara started to squeeze. Given the shackles, Azula was defenseless. Ty Lee sprang into defense mode and chi blocked Katara, causing her to hit the ground.

Hakoda screamed. "What did you do to my daughter?"

"She was going to kill her," Ty Lee insisted.

Hakoda approached. Sokka got in between them, not wanting matters to get worse. "Katara will wake up in like ten minutes Dad. On a related note, WE NEED A HEALER FOR AANG!"

The crowd was so shocked by what happened that they forgot that the avatar was on the floor and unconscious.

The royal doctor came straight away. "He appears to just be asleep."

"Well he flew backward and started bleeding out the nose. That's not how most people go to sleep," Toph retorted.

"His body seems fine now. Maybe, he had some kind of spiritual crisis that manifested in this. I won't know for sure until he wakes up."

Toph wasn't sure what Aang did, but she hoped that he was okay.

Azula was really confused. "What did he do to me?" she questioned. She felt lighter somehow, like some of her pain had just gone away

"Can you still bend?" the sage asked her.

"I can't really tell with these shackles on."

Tentatively, the guards removed her. The sage asked her to produce a flame, and she did. "I feel just fine."

"Then did what did Aang do?" Sokka questioned.

"I don't know, but it felt like my memories were being replayed in my mind."

"Aang didn't say anything about that the last time he did this," Suki said.

"Maybe he made a wrong turn," Ty Lee suggested.

"In her chi?"

"It's possible."

* * *

><p>Unsure of what to do with his sister, Zuko ordered her to be sent back to Boiling Rock until further notice. He couldn't prove this was her fault, but until Aang said otherwise, he was assuming this was her fault.<p>

Aang woke up about an hour after he passed out.

"What's going on?" He was in the infirmary. Katara, Sokka and Toph were with him.

"You tell us," Katara said. "You were taking Azula's bending, but then you flew back, got a nose bleed and passed out."

"Oh yeah, I wasn't taking her bending."

"What?" she questioned.

"I decided not to do that."

"Come again," Sokka said to him.

"Oh, I was researching energybending and a bunch of bad things can happen if you do it for the wrong reasons, and since I was unsure of whether or not I should do it, I decided not to."

"You decided WHAT?" Katara was so mad.

"Chill Sugar Queen and listen."

"To take someone else's bending I have to have both a pure motive and a strong enough will. When I took Ozai's, I was trying to save the world and I knew he would kill me otherwise, so my will was strong. With Azula, I couldn't say the same things. The war is over. She's already in jail. She wasn't trying to kill me at that moment. I wasn't sure if I was doing it for the right reasons, and since I couldn't be sure, I didn't do it."

"What happens if you have the wrong reasons?" Sokka questioned.

"I could lose my bending, my sanity, or both."

"So that's a pretty big deal."

"Yeah, I would say so."

"So what were you trying to do?" Katara questioned.

"Well I also read that energybending can heal, so I was trying to mend her spirit and as I went through her wounds, I made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in her memories. I became Azula and was reliving them. It was so overwhelming that I passed out."

"And that's why she said they were replaying in her mind," Toph said.

"Yeah, I did that."

"What did you see that made you pass out?" Sokka questioned.

"She found her grandfather dead, after her mother had poisoned him. It horrified her."

All three of them got the heebie jeebies.

"So what are you going to do now?" Katara questioned.

"I don't know. I've never healed anyone spiritually before, so I don't know what's going to happen with her."


End file.
